Studying at the Faculty of Fear
by RussM
Summary: Strange events at an Ivy-League university lead to the gang uncovering the truth behind Velma's genius. A truth which not only threatens her sanity but their very lives.
1. Working GIrl

Velma peeled her face of her desk looking for all the world like a confused owl, fumbling for her glasses she looked through them at the time. 3:07 am. She turned her computer monitor on and moaned, shielding her eyes from the painful brightness and checked her email. Velma sighed in relief, her head resting on the desk again; she had managed to send her completed assessment off in time and had received an automated reply receipt to prove it. She rubbed her eyes; her ears were ringing with tiredness. Mystery solving was really messing with her studies and her sleep patterns. She was just about to turn off the monitor and haul herself into bed when another email arrived. She scanned the message, despite her state she just about managed to raise an eyebrow. A request for help from Mystery Incorporated from the Regents of Orange University… the very university she'd just sent her completed assignment to.

"Dear Miss Dinkley blah blah blah Mystery Incorporated's reputation blah blah blah experiments gone wrong yadda yadda yadda monsters blah mutant creatures running amok yawn... Whatever," Velma forwarded the email to the rest of the gang turned off her monitor then turned herself off.

The next day Velma read the message to the gang.

"…furthermore the Regents of Orange University consider the unexpected and spontaneous mutation of its faculty and students into mythical beasts coupled with the random appearance of fantastic creatures on campus to be an experience not compatible with the ethos espoused in out charter and detrimental to the culture of learning and scholarship we at the… univer…"

"Wake up Shaggy," said Daphne nudging him in the ribs.

"Say isn't that your university Vel?" said Fred.

"Only indirectly and only part-time, the Coolsville Institute of Advanced Studies is affiliated to them. I can't afford either the time or the money to go to Orange so I go to Coolsville." Velma's voice had an air of resigned sadness to it.

That Velma was a genius wasn't in doubt but the source of her genius was. Some said it was because her head was big she had a big brain. It was true her head was larger than average. The first person to notice just how big her head was was her mother, during delivery. There was a famous piece of film footage, or infamous from Velma's point of view, from her early months. She was sitting, propped up by cushions, looking at some playing cards turning one over and over again staring intently at the card. She screwed up her eyes for a few moments, picked up a different card, stared at one side, then the other, her breathing rate could be heard on increase in expectation and turned it back to the original side. Velma kicked her legs and waved her arms in excitement, the first side was still there! She tipped her head back and squealed with delight, this caused her to topple over onto the floor. There followed a few moments of her sucking on her toes, whether as a reward for her discovery or to moderate the emotional impact of the moment was unclear. But whatever it was she never looked back from that first taste of the thrill of discovery. But if she still sucked her toes she did it in private.

Whilst Velma had been quite bright from an early age most people attributed her genius to repeated bouts of childhood asthma which had kept her confined to bed for days at a time and the only thing to do was read, and read she did. She wrote a school play based on ancient Greek myths, read how to - then built a radio, made a remote control cookie collector, then a device to un-confiscate the cookie collector. It was certain that her love of books and electronics came from those days. Some said that Velma wasn't a genius as such she just didn't forget as much stuff as everyone else, and so the theories continued. The one area where Velma didn't excel was in sports. She like playing all kinds but just not very well, it was that which was her undoing; she failed to get a scholarship to Orange University due to their requirement for some kind of sporting prowess, any kind of prowess. Finally she was going to Orange, just not the way she wanted.

On the appointed day and at the appointed time Fred carefully parked a freshly cleaned and waxed Mystery Machine outside the administration block of Orange University. The gang calmly alighted from the Mystery Machine and proceeded in an orderly fashion towards into the building. Velma had been very clear on this, they alighted, not bundled, charged, piled or flopped out; they _alighted_ in a neat and tidy fashion. They were even wearing their smartest mystery solving clothes. Sensing she was nervous Shaggy took Velma's hand, she gripped it like a vice. He realized she wasn't nervous, she was terrified. Like everyone Velma had her insecurities, and hers was to do with her intelligence. She found being known as the 'brain' of the group quite stressful. She knew she was intelligent, smart and all those other words but she never felt she was as smart as people made out, that she was winging it more than people realised. She felt smarter and more secure in her smarts when she was with the gang. She appreciated how their insights and observations fed her own and that any conclusion she made was more complete because of them. There was always pressure at the beginning of a case, she felt people were looking at her, wondering when she was going to solve it, and why hadn't she done it yet. And that was just a regular case.

The gang went to the office of the arch-chancellor where they were greeted by his secretary, a disturbingly older version of Velma who was reading from a Latin version of Dante's Inferno. She sat up and gave them a warm, but formal, smile.

"How may I be of assistance?"

"Excuse me I'm looking for Professor Dart, I have an appointment to see him."

"He is indeed extant at present; may I enquire as to whom is calling?"

"Dinkley, Velma Dinkley."

"Professor Dinkley?"

"No, just, just Velma," said Velma sadly, sagging slightly as she spoke.

"One day Vel, one day," Fred placed his hand on her shoulder. Velma smiled and rested her hand on his. Whilst Daphne was the lynch-pin of her emotional support network and Shaggy could lighten whatever mood she was in, sometime only a Fred would do.

Professor Dart turned out to be a tall man with a neatly-trimmed white beard. He gave the impression of a wrestler going to fat. There was a rounded softness to his appearance, but it was clear strength lurked beneath.

"Welcome to Orange University," Professor Dart shook hands with each of the gang.

"Happy to help sir," said Fred.

"Come into my office and we can discuss the situation."

There were some advantages to working with clients such as Orange, the coffee and biscuits were excellent and the chairs comfy. The surroundings and Professor Dart's easy-going manner set them at ease, even Velma found herself relaxing. Dart appeared genuinely interested in the history of the group so they engaged in small talk, Velma didn't say much, she became curious over Dart's line of questions. He'd essentially asked the same question a number of time but in very different ways, Dart was a clinical psychologist by training so was probably testing them.

"You've been quiet for a while Velma, what's on your mind?" Dark asked gently.

"You, I, I was thinking about your questions, you've asked the same question a number of times to check our responses." Daphne and Fred looked horrified, at times they wished they could muzzle Velma but Dart eyes wrinkled as he smiled; he nodded.

"Very observant, yes partly its force of habit but I also wanted to see how your experience meshed together. This is a very unusual situation we have here and every detail may matter." He looked at Velma "you've proved my decision to approach you for help was correct."

"Thank you professor," Velma smiled, her heart was warmed by his praise but she felt the pressure more than before as her stomach twisted up in knots.

"Let me show you some footage of why we have called you…" Dart went to his computer, the display on the wall flickered into life.

"Jinkies!"

"Jeepers!"

"Mother!"

"Shaggy, please get off my lap," whispered Fred.

The footage showed a minotaur-like figure prowling outside the library. A couple of students walked out from the library, the creature pointed its finger at them. A bolt of energy leapt from its finger and engulfed the students. The students convulsed and fell to the ground, they slowly transformed into human-snake hybrids with the torso of a human but the lower half of a snake. The pair slithered off out of view of the camera.

"The Minotaur vanished before campus police arrived, the two students were found a few hours later in the athletics track apparently unharmed with no memory of what had happened." Dart leant back in his chair and looked at the gang "So you see our problem. Dr Spilsbury, she's the Reader in forensic science here, is preparing what evidence we have for your inspection tomorrow morning."

"Very much so Professor Dart, we'll check in to a local hotel and get started," said Fred.

"No need for that, follow me please," Dart got out of his chair and gestured to the door "This is not your normal Ivy League university; we're so good that even our ivy has ivy growing on it," said Professor Dart as he escorted the gang from his office and out onto the campus.

"Jeepers that impressive," said Daphne.

"Its a joke Daph," whispered Velma.

"I knew that."

"So for cover, and so you'll be on the scene quicker, we have put you in one of our campus houses, these are normally used by visiting staff or postgraduate students with families so your presence should not arouse any suspicion. But please do try to smarten him up."

"Don't worry about Scooby. Bath time Scooby,"said Daphne. Scooby began to protest as Fred and Daphne started to drag him off; 'no rubber ducky, no bath-time' was his motto.

"I wasn't referring to the Dane," Professor Dart eyed Shaggy.

"Ohhh ok. Bath time Shaggy," said Daphne. Shaggy protested as Fred and Daphne dragged him off.

"You don't have a problem with dogs on campus?" said Velma above Shaggy's protests.

"Indeed no," Dart patted Scooby on the head, causing his tail to thump happily on the ground "in fact we are the only institution to offer the prestigious canine BA."

"Canine BA?"

"BArk," smiled Dart.

"Right," sighed Velma "Do you have any suspects Professor?"

"Well this is a prestige academic institution which prides itself in professionalism so…"

"So?"

"So scratch the surface and you'll find a whole pile of lust, passion, personal and professional envy, rivalries, feuds."  
>"I wasn't thinking about the student Professor."<p>

"Neither was I."


	2. The Hunter and the Hunted

After they had got themselves booked in with the faculty the gang went to one of the coffee shops on campus and sat outside to help get the feel of the place. While Shaggy got the soap out of his ears Fred and Velma sat back and soaked up the atmosphere but it was Daphne who appeared the most animated about being there.

"We're here on campus at the beginning of a new academic year!" said Daphne excitedly, taking Velma's hands in hers.

"I dread to ask but what's so good about that?" said Velma rolling her eyes "as if I couldn't guess," she muttered under her breath.

"Lots of hot and fresh freshman!" Daphne looked around at the students walking nearby "I'd never pass anything here with all this eye candy to stare at."

"Some come to drink deep at the fountain of knowledge," said Fred.

"Yeah, and others just gargle," said Velma looking at Daphne.

"What?" said Daphne "listen we are going to have such a great night out tonight us two."

"Well you and Fred will have a great time together," said Velma.

"No, me and _you_, Velma Dinkley. A girls' night out, we're all going on a man hunt!"

"Like nice try Vel," Shaggy whispered in Velma's ear.

"Thanks, any chance I could bribe you and Scooby to kidnap me?"

"Like usually yes, but I don't think that would stop Daph."

"Interesting idea Daph but I don't have any 'date hunting' clothes with me."

"I know, that's why I brought some with me."

"Like, give up Vel, you're not gonna win this one."

Velma sighed, why, when she was so good at chess did she never see these things coming?

Velma had to admit that the clothes Daphne had brought for her weren't too bad. A figure hugging black t-shirt with an orange shirt to wear on top, smart black jeans and orange deck shoes. Daphne was again in purple, this time a long purple dress with green waistband. The girls met up with the boys who were getting ready to go out themselves.

"While you're off hunting for dates Shag, Scoob and I are going to the sports bar, they're showing the baseball game where they're describing the new stats system," said Fred with more that his usual level of boyish enthusiasm.

"Joy," said Daphne completely without enthusiasm while Velma tried to stifle a yawn, suddenly Daphne's idea didn't seem too bad after all.

"And like they've also got the 'Stadium Snacks Live' channel. Stadium food from around the world that's how me and Scoob learn about places, better than CNN."

Velma perked up as Shaggy spoke. "Actually that's not such a daft idea."

"Like it isn't?"

"Of course not, traditionally getting together to eat has been a way of breaking down barriers, for instance in some parts of Papua New Guinea a meal can be used as a way of resolving tension between people. A person would bring along a pig or piglet, a 'talking pig' as it was known, to a group of people with who they have a dispute with, they would kill and eat the pig together and try to work out their differences without fighting. Meanwhile in other parts of the world…" Daphne clamped her hand over Velma's mouth and escorted her away; she wasn't going to let Velma talk her way out of going out this time.

Daphne had picked the nicest bar on campus, it served food and had nice views of the campus ground. There was just one small problem.

"Need to be a student at the university or a guest of one to get it, oh well never mind Daph let's get back to the boys," said Velma with some relief.

"That's no problem, you are a student here, remember?" Daphne grabbed hold of Velma's arm to stop her leaving.

"Associate member I only do part-time courses here…"

"And you're a student at the Coosville Institute of Advanced Studies which is affiliated to this place so…"

"Ok, ok, I give in," said Velma as she fished around in her bag for her student ID cards.

"I dunno Daph, I'm really not into this kind of thing," Velma fidgeted on the bar stool as she looked around the place. It wasn't seedy or anything but it wasn't the kind of place she'd normally go, certainly not why she'd come to a place like this.

"Oh come on Velma it'll be fine, besides it's about time you saw some action." Daphne put the drinks and snacks on the table then sat down next to her.

"Lucky me," said Velma with little enthusiasm, she looked at the bar food menu as they settled down for the evening.

Velma hadn't been paying much attention to Daphne's running commentary on the relative hotness of the men she'd seen around the place until it sounded like Daphne had made a selection, for both of them it seemed.

"See he looks nice, plus I think he's been checking you out."

"What, who?" said Velma with a mixture of incredulity and intrigue.

"The guy over there," Daphne indicated with a gentle nod of her head "the guy who looks like Mr April in that Fireman calendar of yours."

"Jinkies really?"

Daphne smiled to herself at Velma's suddenly flustered state; when you knew what buttons to press she was quite easy to direct. As Velma had stuck to soft drinks there were no beer-goggles involved; he did look enough like Mr April that Velma found herself giving the guy a shy little smile. Numerous glances and smiles passed between them, enough that Daphne decided it was time to move things along. Velma wasn't exactly sure how it happened but she found herself sitting opposite 'Mr April' with a "sharing platter" of food between them. While Daphne and her pick-of-the-day, Martyn, were soon engaging in smalltalk there was an uncomfortable silence from the other part of the table. Martyn gave his friend a nudge.

"Hi, I'm Adrian."

"Velma."

_And we're done for the evening_ thought Daphne gloomily, Daphne opened her mouth to speak but the next voice wasn't hers.

"I'm doing Forensic Psychology and Criminology, part-time; I'm usually based at CIAS."

"Oh Coolsville, I've been there a couple of times; my aunt does evening courses there. I'm doing linguistics."

"Jinkies that's a coincidence so does my mother. Is that computational or traditional."

"Computational mostly but I'm really getting into psycholinguistics."

"That's Winograd's course isn't it?"

"Bang on, you done it?"

"Oh sure, I've got my notes on my laptop if you want."  
>"Great I'll give you my email address. You done Sally-Anne's theory of mind course yet."<p>

"Next semester, I know it's a tough one."

"I'm doing it now; I can run through it with you."  
>"Seriously? That'll be great!" Tablets appeared, within seconds they had exchanged email, Skype and mobile contacts and were planning out their study sessions "Say why does Daphne have her mouth open?"<p>

Daphne couldn't believe it; Velma had gone from a standing start to almost be booking future dates with the guy.

"No, emm just lost in thought; don't let your food grow cold."

"Oh the food," Velma looked down "I'd forgotten about that."

"Yeah I have to reheat mine as well," Adrian smiled; Velma looked at him and returned a coy little smile.

The pair set to sharing out their food while Daphne returned her attention to her date for the evening as everything seemed to be under control. Velma was good at small-talk provided she didn't think about it and as they had the security blanket of their academic work to fall back on both relaxed into getting to know each other.

After a couple of hours they walked out the bar; Velma had a growing sense of unease as to where this was all heading. She didn't like leading people on. Sure Adrian looked great, he was interesting, intelligent and was a genuinely nice guy, he'd offered her his arm which to her surprise she'd taken, but it was all going too fast and tried to signal her unease to Daphne. Velma needn't have worried, as she soon found herself queuing to get into some kind of disco. There was quite a crowd waiting to get in, footballers or similar judging by their size. Just before Velma got lost in the crowd Adrian had put his arm round her shoulder and guided her to a quitter spot, Velma didn't move, she let his arm remain around her, even moving a bit closer. She had to admit so far he was ticking all the boxes. Velma glanced up and gave him another smile, she noticed the moon was rising, a full moon.

As soon as they were inside they hit the dance-floor. Daphne moved herself and Martyn away from Velma and Adrian to give each other some space. While there wasn't much going on between her and Martyn, aside from both letting their hair down for a bit of fun, both could sense there was definitely some chemistry going on in the other part of the room. Daphne stole a quick glance at Velma during a slow number; both Velma and Adrian were too pre-occupied with each other to notice.

A while later Daphne dragged Velma off to the ladies toilet for an obligatory update. Velma clammed up, went a reddish colour and mumbled something about boxes. Daphne tried to give Velma a pep talk like a football coach at half-time but Velma just wanted to get back out there, which proved to be a good thing. A couple of numbers later the DJ decided to ramp things up and turned on the strobe light, as soon as they started Adrian became passive and his body started to stiffen, sensing something amiss Velma whisked him off the dance floor to a quiet, and dark corner. She caught Daphne's eye and signalled for her to follow.

Velma sat Adrian down and started to check him over.

"Do you have photosensitive epilepsy?"

"I don't think so; I just don't like flashing lights."

_Awwwwwwww_ thought Daphne when she saw the concern on Velma's face. It reminded her of the time she and Velma were playing at Shaggy's place just after they'd all finished kindergarten for the day. Shaggy was kissed by girl next door, he panicked and ran round the garden shouting that had caught cooties; he was feeling faint, feverish and needed cookies. Velma took one look at the scene and ran indoors calling out for Shaggy's mother. Daphne assumed she was going to get cookies, his mother or both. After a while Velma hadn't reappeared so Daphne went inside to find Velma on the phone to the Centers for Disease Control arguing with a duty manager that cooties were a condition that they should be concerned about. It took all Daphne's powers of persuasion to calm Velma down and diffuse the situation. Quite how Velma knew CDC's number by heart was never fully established but it showed that even then she had a heart almost as big as her brain.

There were more strobe lights, Velma decided that enough was enough; this was no place to find out if Adrian did indeed have photosensitive epilepsy. Fortunately he had a room on campus so they all headed there.

"You coming in guys?"

"No, you make sure he's OK. You need some peace and quiet," Daphne gave Velma a wink.

"Thanks Daph," Velma whispered.

Daphne waited outside to find out what Velma was going to do, if something was happening between them she didn't want to get in the way. Daphne and her date lay down on a grassy hillock outside the dorm. It was warm, clear night; all in all it was a pleasant end to a nice evening. Velma closed the door to Adrian's room wither her backside. His room was like millions of student rooms; slightly messy, full of random stuff and smelt slightly of pizza. There was a bed, a desk and chair and next to the window was an armchair. Velma guided him into the armchair then sat on the chair. Adrian turned on a uplighter to give some gentle light.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better thanks to you." Velma blushed slightly.

"You should sit here that chair isn't that comfy."

"No you should rest."

Adrian tried to get up, Velma got up to stop him; she could see he was still a bit wobbly on his feet. She held onto him to steady him then guide him back down. He slipped back into the chair, still holding on Velma fell after him. A quick adjustment in position and she was sitting on his lap. Velma's heart was in her mouth; he had his arms around her but hadn't tried to touch her inappropriately.

"Sorry, I was a bit giddy."

"It's ok, we're fine."

Velma had her arm round her neck to stroke his back, Adrian held her more closely. Their heads moved closer, lips brushed against each other, then again moment later but this time the contact was longer and surer. Then again, and again. Nothing was hurried, nothing forced. As they kissed a purple glow began to come in through the window. It grew brighter and brighter, unnoticed by both of them till they heard Daphne scream.

"Not again," whispered Adrian.


End file.
